Did you know?

A study from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York released in May of 2012 indicated that student loan debt is the only form of consumer debt to increase significantly since 2008. According to the study, 40 percent of consumers under the age of 30 have student loan debt, and the average graduate from the class of 2011 owes $23,000. Student loan debt may not be new, but the increase in mortgage defaults since 2008 have led many risk-averse lenders to scrutinize borrowers more carefully, and substantial student loan debts could make it more difficult for first-time homebuyers, the majority of whom are between the ages of 25 and 34, to secure a loan, or at least secure a loan with a reasonable interest rate. That heightened scrutiny could be one reason that, according to the National Association of Realtors, first-time homebuyers between the ages of 25 and 34 fell from 33 percent of the total market in 2001 to 27 percent of the total market in 2011, the lowest market share in 10 years.